Your Child's First Pet

Having been a child myself and going through the begging for a pet, I can honestly say the AVERAGE child is not responsible enough to be sole caretaker of an animal. Yes, the child may care for it for a few weeks or even months, but go to any shelter or rescue group and ask how many animals per year are given up or neglected when the kids stop caring for them and the parents do not want to.

I remember my parents getting on my case because I forgot to poop scoop the back yard or clean a cage. I spent five years at a shelter and then several more involved with rabbit rescue. I hated June, July and August (post Easter when the baby bunnies were now hitting sexually maturity and no longer cute babies). I hated these months because Christmas puppies and kittens were now adolescent brats and the owners could not or would not deal with them. I hated seeing the lines of animals coming in and the reason for giving up was often "The kid lost interest." I hated the fall, as all the pets bought over the summer would be dumped because the kids were in school and the parents unwilling to care for the animal. Had these parents had the guts to stand up and use some brainpower, these animals would never have been gotten.

What do you need to think about before bringing and animal into the life of your child and family?

In over 20 years of various animal work, I have developed a series of things to ponder:

Time Commitment

How much time each day do you have to devote to the animal? Are you willing to commit to the pet for its life? (This can be anywhere from three to 70+ years depending on if you getting a mouse, a parrot or a tortoise).

Human Medical Issues

(Continued on next page)